U.S. patent number 4,834,099 [Application Number 07/044,841] was granted by the patent office on 1989-05-30 for orthodontic feeding nipple.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Helvoet Pharma N.V.. Invention is credited to Rik Schrooten.
United States Patent |
4,834,099 |
Schrooten |
May 30, 1989 |
Orthodontic feeding nipple
Abstract
The feeding nipple contains an annular connecting part the outer
face of which defines a base plane and a central longitudinal axis
perpendicular thereto, as well as a hemispherical shell and a
hollow nozzle portion, integrally formed onto it via a narrowed
neck part, having a suction opening in its rounded tip. All
components form a one-piece hollow body of an elastomeric material
which is mirror-symmetrical with respect to a plane of symmetry
containing the longitudinal axis. A plane of division,
perpendicular to the plane of symmetry and axially dividing the
hollow nozzle portion in a longitudinal direction intersects the
longitudinal axis near the base plane and is spaced apart from it
at the apex of the rounded tip by approximately 6 mm. The hollow
nozzle portion, including the neck part is limited on the inside by
ellipses parallel to the base plane, the minor axes of which are
located in the plane of symmetry, and all points of the ellipses
are located within a reference intersection curve at the narrowest
outer cross section of the neck at a minimum distance of 0.5 mm.
The hollow nozzle portion includes a thickened region, the maximum
value of which is located for approximately half of its length in
the plane of symmetry. The feeding nipple can be produced
economically and in a shape optimized for pressure molding
(injection molding).
Inventors: |
Schrooten; Rik (Peer/Kleine
Brogel, BE) |
Assignee: |
Helvoet Pharma N.V. (Alken,
BE)
|
Family
ID: |
40404112 |
Appl.
No.: |
07/044,841 |
Filed: |
June 29, 1987 |
PCT
Filed: |
August 28, 1986 |
PCT No.: |
PCT/EP86/00503 |
371
Date: |
June 29, 1987 |
102(e)
Date: |
June 29, 1987 |
PCT
Pub. No.: |
WO87/01277 |
PCT
Pub. Date: |
March 12, 1987 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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Aug 29, 1985 [DE] |
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3530911 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
215/11.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61J
11/004 (20130101); A61J 11/007 (20130101); A61J
11/045 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A61J
11/00 (20060101); A61J 017/00 (); A61J 013/00 ();
A61J 009/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;128/360,359,150
;215/11.1 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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8524734 |
|
Apr 1986 |
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DE |
|
2066795 |
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Jul 1981 |
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GB |
|
2181957 |
|
May 1987 |
|
GB |
|
Primary Examiner: Hafer; Robert A.
Assistant Examiner: Brown; Michael
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Spencer & Frank
Claims
It is claimed:
1. An orthodontic feeding nipple adapted for attachment to a
feeding bottle, comprising:
a one-piece, single-walled hollow body of elastomeric material and
having a longitudinal axis, including:
an annular connecting part adapted for attachment to the feeding
bottle, said annular connecting part having an inner face and an
outer face, with said outer face being disposed in a base plane
perpendicular to the longitudinal axis;
a shell portion having a form of a body generated by revolution and
being approximately hemispherically shaped, said shell portion
including a first end integrally connected to said inner face of
said annular connecting part and having a second end disposed from
said base plane, said shell portion forming an opening for the
passage of liquid therein;
a hollow nozzle portion having a first end which is closed by a
rounded tip and a second end including a narrowed neck part which
is integrally connected to said second end of said shell portion,
said second end of said hollow nozzle portion having a
substantially constant cross section around its circumference in a
region having the smallest outer diameter, said region being
further defined as being taken in a reference plane that is
parallel to said base plane, said hollow nozzle portion forming a
continuation of the opening formed by said shell portion for the
passage of liquid therein; and wherein
said hollow body is mirror-symmetrical with respect to a plane of
symmetry passing through the longitudinal axis;
said rounded tip includes a point which is disposed further away
from said base plane than all the remaining material of said hollow
nozzle portion and said point is offset from the longitudinal axis
of said body;
said hollow nozzle portion includes an inner surface contoured such
that all transverse planes which are parallel to said base plane
from said reference plane to an inner surface of said rounded tip
are substantially in the shape of an ellipse which has a minor axis
located along the plane of symmetry;
the elliptical shapes of the inner surface which are formed by the
transverse planes parallel to said base plane between said
reference plane and said rounded tip are sized such that when the
ellipses are projected parallel to the longitudinal axis onto said
reference plane, the ellipses are located at least 0.5 mm within an
ellipse formed by the outer surface in said reference plane;
a reference line located in said reference plane and perpendicular
to said plane of symmetry centrally divides the ellipse formed by
the outer surface in said reference plane, said reference line is
offset between 2.3 to 3.3 mm from the longitudinal axis of said
body in the same direction that said point of said rounded tip is
offset from the longitudinal axis;
a plane of division which divides said hollow nozzle portion into a
first wall section and a second wall section, said plane of
division is disposed through said point of said rounded tip and
said reference line, the first wall section has a substantially
constant cross section equal to the wall thickness of said hollow
nozzle portion in said reference plane; and
the second wall section has a wall thickness continuously
increasing from said point of said rounded tip to a centrally
located point between said point of said rounded tip and said neck
part of said hollow nozzle portion, the wall thickness at said
centrally located point of said second wall section being 1.5 to 3
times the wall thickness in said reference plane.
2. An orthodontic feeding nipple as defined in claim 1, wherein
said plane of division intersects the longitudinal axis at a point
adjacent said base plane.
3. An orthodontic feeding nipple as defined in claim 1, wherein
said plane of division extends parallel to the longitudinal
axis.
4. An orthodontic feeding nipple as defined in claim 1, wherein the
maximum value of the wall thickness of said hollow nozzle portion
is located at the intersection of said plane of symmetry and a
first transverse plane which is disposed parallel to said base
plane, the first transverse plane being located approximately in
the center between said reference plane and said point of said
rounded tip.
5. An orthodontic feeding nipple as defined in claim 1, wherein a
point of said first wall section of said hollow nozzle portion that
is located in said plane of symmetry and at a maximum distance from
the longitudinal axis is located in a second transverse plane which
is closer to said reference plane than the transverse plane
containing the point the maximum wall thickness.
6. An orthodontic feeding nipple as defined in claim 1, wherein the
ratio between the maximum width of said hollow nozzle portion,
which is measured between planes that are tangential to said outer
surface, parallel to said plane of division and perpendicular to
said plane of symmetry, with respect to the length of said hollow
nozzle portion, which is measured between said reference line and
said point of said rounded tip, is within the range of 0.75:1 to
0.85 to 1.
7. An orthodontic feeding nipple as defined in claim 1, wherein
said point of said rounded tip is offset from the longitudinal axis
in the range of 5.5 to 6.5 mm.
8. An orthodontic feeding nipple as defined in claim 1, further
comprising a suction opening extending through said first wall
section of said hollow nozzle portion.
9. An orthodontic feeding nipple as defined in claim 1, wherein the
wall thickness of said shell portion has a maximum value adjacent
said annular connecting part and the wall thickness of said shell
portion decreases steadily until it is equal to the wall thickness
at said reference plane.
10. An orthodontic feeding nipple as defined in claim 1, wherein
the maximum value of the wall thickness of said hollow nozzle
portion is located at the intersection of said plane of symmetry
and a first transverse plane which is disposed parallel to said
base plane and is positioned at a location where the inner surface
of said second wall section is at a maximum distance from the
longitudinal axis.
11. An orthodontic feeding nipple as defined in claim 10, wherein a
point of said first wall section of said hollow nozzle portion that
is located in said plane of symmetry and at a maximum distance from
the longitudinal axis is located in a second transverse plane which
is approximately in the center between said first transverse plane
and said reference plane.
12. An orthodontic feeding nipple as defined in claim 1, wherein
the breadth of said hollow nozzle portion, which is measured along
the lines of intersection between said plane of division and
transverse planes parallel to said base plane, increases on the
preponderant part of the length of said hollow nozzle portion
proportional to the distance from said reference plane.
13. An orthodontic feeding nipple as defined in claim 12, wherein
the breadth of said hollow nozzle portion, which is measured along
the lines of intersection between said plane of division and
transverse planes parallel to said base plane, increases on the
preponderant part of the length of said hollow nozzle portion
proportional to the distance from said reference plane up to a
location having a maximum breadth, and wherein the ratio of the
maximum width to the maximum breadth is in the range of 0.83:1 to
0.93:1.
14. An orthodontic feeding nipple as defined in claim 13, wherein
the ratio of the maximum width to the length of said hollow nozzle
portion is 0.78:1 and the ratio of the maximum width to the maximum
breadth of the hollow nozzle portion is in the range of 0.85:1 to
0.9:1 and said point of said rounded tip is offset from said
longitudinal axis in the range of 5.0 to 6.0 mm and said reference
line is offset from said longitudinal axis in the range of 2.6 to
3.0 mm.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an orthodontic feeding nipple, comprising
a one-piece, single-walled hollow body of elastomeric material
including an annular connecting part for attaching it to a feeding
bottle disposed coaxially to a longitudinal axis. The feeding
nipple is placed with its outer face in a first base plane
perpendicular to this longitudinal axis. The feeding nipple
includes a shell in the form of a body generated by revolution, its
longitudinal axis forming its axis, having the approximate shape of
half a hollow sphere, its edge integrally formed onto the other
face of the connecting part and having an opening in the area
facing away from the base plane; and a hollow nozzle portion closed
at its free end by a rounded tip. The hollow nozzle portion has a
narrowed neck part at its other end, the wall thickness of which in
a reference plane parallel to the base plane and drawn through the
point of its smallest outside diameter is in general equal across
its entire circumference and is integrally formed onto the opening
of the shell. The entire hollow body is mirror-symmetrical with
respect to a plane of symmetry passing through the longitudinal
axis and the axis of a bore of a suction opening extending through
the wall of the hollow nozzle portion. The vertex of the outer
surface of the hollow nozzle portion furthest away from the base
plane is located on a vertex line perpendicular to the plane of
symmetry and offset from the longitudinal axis, and the inner
surface intersection curves, created by the intersection of the
inner surface of the hollow nozzle portion with arbitrary
transverse planes parallel to the base plane, have approximately
the form of ellipses, the minor axes of which form the intersection
lines of the plane of symmetry with the respectively associated
transverse planes.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Known feeding nipples of this type are produced by the dipping
process which, on the one hand, is expensive as a manufacturing
process and, on the other hand, only permits the formation of all
the walls with a generally equal wall thickness. To the extent that
for medical reasons it would be required to provide sections of the
feeding nipple with an enlarged wall thickness, these limitations
have to be tolerated.
Compared with the formation after normal development, the lower jaw
of a child is in a recessed position at birth and the palate has a
comparatively compressed shape.
During natural feeding by the mother, the child presses the
mother's nipple against its palate by means of the tongue and
stimulates the discharge of milk by a pulsating pressure of the
tongue on the nipple which, because of its shape and tissue
structure, passes on these pressure pulses to the palate. The
latter reacts to this by growing. The pressure pulses also act on
the lower jaw and continuously force it forward. The lower jaw
reacts by slowly shifting its position forward. The tongue
movements described are basically always performed by the child
when it is awake; however, they are especially pronounced during
feeding, thus giving it special importance for a good formation of
the body parts described above. It has already been a goal in
feeding nipples of the type described above to achieve effects in
the development of children comparable to breast feeding without,
however, being able to approach this goal to the extent
desired.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is the object of the invention to improve a feeding nipple of
the type described above in its construction such that it can be
produced more economically and that it insures by its use an
optimal development of the palate and the lower jaw as well as the
required suction capability.
This object is attained by means of the invention in that the inner
surface of the hollow nozzle portion, including its rounded tip and
a section of its neck portion extending to the reference plane, is
formed such that every point of all of the inner surface
intersection curves, when projected parallel to the longitudinal
axis onto the reference plane, is located within the reference
intersection curve formed by the intersection of the outer surface
of the hollow nozzle portion with the reference plane and maintains
a distance of at least 0.5 mm from it; that a reference line
located in the reference plane, being perpendicular to the plane of
symmetry and axially dividing the reference intersection curve is
offset by from 2.3 to 3.3 mm from the longitudinal axis in the same
direction as the vertex line; that the first wall section of the
hollow nozzle portion being on the one side of a plane of division
drawn through the vertex line and the reference line and containing
the intersection point of the reference plane with the longitudinal
axis generally having an even wall thickness corresponding to the
wall thickness in the reference plane; and that the second wall
section, located on the other side of the plane of division, has a
wall thickness continuously tending toward a maximal value with
increasing approach towards a centrally located point, where this
maximal value is equal to a 1.5 to 3 times the wall thickness in
the reference plane.
This design makes it possible to produce the feeding Enipple are
achieved in addition to the shaping of the outer surface.
The offset of the reference lines means that the hollow nozzle
portion not only extends at an angle to the shell, as in a mere
offsetting of the vertex line, but that also its connecting point
with the shell is offset from the center. Together with the shell
being encompassed by the lips of the child, this provides
sufficient free space for the tongue located under the hollow
nozzle portion. The thin first wall part of the hollow nozzle
portion (oriented toward the tongue or the lower jaw) does not
present undesirably great resistance to the pressure or suction
movements of the tongue that assure the discharge of the fluid by
means of the feeding nipple, and the child is encouraged to
continue the required tongue movements. The thicker second wall
part of the hollow nozzle portion oriented towards the palate
insures that the correct position in the mouth, i.e. against the
palate and extending far into the mouth, is actually achieved.
Further features and advantages of the invention will become
evident from the dependent claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
An exemplary embodiment of the invention is described below by
means of the drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section through the feeding nipple
presented in its plane of symmetry;
FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section through the feeding nipple
presented in intersection planes turned by 90.degree. in regard to
FIG. 1 acccording to the broken line shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a top view of the feeding nipple;
FIG. 4 is a cross section of the feeding nipple taken through the
reference plane B.sub.1 of FIG. 1; and
FIG. 5 is a cross section of the feeding nipple taken through the
reference plane B.sub.3 of FIG. 1.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The feeding nipple is formed by a one-piece hollow body of an
elastomeric material, for example rubber of silicone, made by
pressure molding and is generally designated by reference numeral
1. This hollow body mainly consists of a connecting part 2, a shell
3 and a hollow nozzle portion 4 with a neck part 4a.
The connecting part 2 is designed for attachment to a drinking
bottle and has the general shape of an annular disc. The outer
cylindrical peripheral surface 2a and the inner cylindrical surface
(bore) 2b of are disposed coaxially with a longitudinal axis A. The
outer face 2c, oriented away from the remaining parts of the
feeding nipple, forms a contact surface contacting the front edge
of the mouth of the drinking bottle during use of the feeding
nipple and is placed in a base plane B.sub.0 which is perpendicular
to the longitudinal axis A. Adjoining the outer peripheral surface
2a an annular bead 2e, of triangular cross section, extends from
the other, inner end face 2d. Radially within this annular bead 2e,
several air supply bores 2f extend through the connecting part.
The shell 3 has approximately the shape of a hollow half sphere,
the wall thickness C.sub.1 of which diminishes, beginning with a
maximal size in the area of its base, with increasing approach to
the longitudinal axis A. The shell 3 is disposed coaxially with the
longitudinal axis A and is connected with the connecting part 2 via
a collar 6, the diameters of the inner peripheral surfaces of these
three components being of the same size and the outer peripheral
surface 6a of the collar 6 having a smaller diameter than the shell
3 at its base, so that an annular slit 6b, radially open toward the
outside, is created. Opposite its base, the shell 3 has an opening
that is disposed offset with respect to the longitudinal axis A, in
a plane of symmetry (which corresponds to the drawing plane of FIG.
1) that contains this longitudinal axis A.
The hollow nozzle portion 4 is affixed with its neck part 4a to
this opening such that a continuous transition exists at the outer
surface 5 and the inner surface 7 of the hollow body 1. The neck
part 4a has an inwardly directed curve such that its inner surface
7 forms a throat between the inner chambers encompassed by the
shell 3 and the hollow nozzle portion 4, while its outer surface
forms a constriction which is most pronounced in the plane of
symmetry and has its smallest value in a plane that is
perpendicular to this plane of symmetry and contains the
longitudinal axis A. On its free end, the hollow nozzle portion is
closed with a rounded tip 4b.
The intersection curves (FIGS. 4 and 5) forming the outer surface 5
or the inner surface 7 of the hollow nozzle portion 4, including
its neck part 4a, by intersection of planes parallel to the base
plane B.sub.0 are at least approximately in the form of ellipses,
the minor axes of which lie in the plane of symmetry D. The
greatest approximation to the elliptical form occurs with the inner
surface intersection curves as well as with the outer surface
intersection curves of the neck part 4a. In the following, that
plane parallel to the base plane B.sub.0 is designated as reference
plane B.sub.1 which runs through the neck part 4a at the place of
its smallest outside diameter and the thus created outer surface
intersection curve as reference intersection curve 5'a (see FIG.
4). In this reference plane B.sub.1, the neck part 4a has a wall
thickness C.sub.2, which is constant over its entire periphery,
between the inner surface intersection curve 7'a and the reference
intersection curve 5'a.
The hollow nozzle portion 4 is disposed offset and slanted on the
shell 3 such that its vertex most remote from the base plane
B.sub.0 is located on the outer surface 5 of a vertex line E, which
is perpendicular to the plane of symmetry D, and which has an
offset F in regard to the longitudinal axis A, the value of which
lies in the range of 5.5 to 6.5 mm. Furthermore, a reference line G
axially dividing the reference intersection 5'a (i.e. in its
elliptical form it forms its large axis) has an offset J in regard
to the longitudinal axis A extending in the same direction as the
offset F, being smaller than the latter and having a value in the
range of 2.3 to 3.3 mm. The offset J has been selected such that a
plane of division K, containing the vertex line E and the reference
line G, intersects the longitudinal axis A at a point L, which
adjoins the base plane B.sub.0. In preferred embodiments the values
for the offset F are in the range of 5.9 to 6.0 mm and for the
offset J in the range of 2.6 to 3.0 mm.
The inner surface 7 of the hollow nozzle portion 4, including its
neck part 4a, is designed such that all points of the inner surface
intersection curves 7'a, 7"a for transverse planes B.sub.2
-B.sub.4, which are parallel to the base plane B.sub.0, located
between the reference plane B.sub.1 and a transverse plane B.sub.n,
tangential to the vertex of the inner surface 7, in their
projection parallel to the longitudinal axis A onto the reference
plane B.sub.1 are located inside the reference intersection curve
5'a. These projected points further satisfying the condition that
their distance M from the reference intersection curve 5'a be at
least 0.5 mm.
The plane of division K divides the hollow nozzle portion 4,
including its neck part 4a and its rounded tip 4b, into two wall
sections. The first wall section, located on that side of the plane
of division K containing the intersection point N of the reference
plane B.sub.1 with the longitudinal axis A, has a wall thickness
equal to the wall thickness C.sub.2 of the neck part 4a in the
reference plane B.sub.1. The second wall section, located on the
other side of the plane of division K also has, adjacent to the
plane of division K, a wall thickness C.sub.2 which continuously
increases up to a centrally located point O and there has a maximum
value C.sub.3 which is equal to 1.5 to 3 times the wall thickness
C.sub.2 in the reference plane b.sub.1. This point O is located in
the intersection of the plane of symmetry D with a transverse plane
B.sub.3 which is parallel to the base plane B.sub.0 and which is
located approximately in the center between the reference plane
B.sub.1 and the vertex line E. In the same transverse plane
B.sub.3, the inner surface 7 has its greatest distance from the
longitudinal axis A in the plane of symmetry D. In a transverse
plane B.sub.2, located approximately in the center between the
transverse plane B.sub.3 and the reference plane B.sub.1 and which
is parallel to the base plane B.sub.0, the inner surface 7 of the
first wall section has the greatest distance from the longitudinal
axis A in the plane of symmetry D.
The inner and outer breadth of the hollow nozzle portion 4,
measured at an intersection line between the plane of division K
and a transverse plane parallel to the base plane B.sub.0, is
greatest in that transverse plane B.sub.4 (FIG. 2), which is
located between the transverse planes B.sub.n and B.sub.3 and lies
very close to the latter transverse plane. The breadth increases,
mainly proportionally to the distance from this reference plane, to
the maximum value mentioned before, beginning with a minimum value
in the reference plane B.sub.1.
The maximum width of the hollow nozzle portion 4, measured between
parallel planes tangential to the outer surfaces 5 and respectively
perpendicular to the plane of symmetry D and parallel to the plane
of division K, with respect to the length of the hollow nozzle
portion 4, measured between the reference line G and the vertex
line E, is at a ratio within the range of 0.75:1 to 0.85:1 and
advantageously within the narrower range of 0.78:1 to 0.82:1. The
ratio of maximum width to maximum breadth is within the range of
0.83:1 to 0.93:1, the narrower range of 0.85:1 to 0.90:1 being
preferred.
A suction opening 8 is located in the plane of symmetry D at a
point offset with regard to the vertex (vertex line E) of the
hollow nozzle portion 4 on the previously defined one side of the
plane of division K. Two (or more) suction openings can be provided
in the wall of the hollow nozzle portion 4 on both sides of the
plane of symmetry D and it is also possible to have the suction
opening(s) be made by the user. In this case there can also be a
marking or weakening of the wall of the hollow nozzle portion 4 at
the place provided for the suction opening 8.
* * * * *